Facebook may be an unfortunate milieu for many reasons, but it does offer me a strong anecdotal glimpse into the minds of my white liberal, feminist, elite-college-educated, upper-middle-class peer group. Many of them have never questioned the paradigm given to them by our parents’ generation: hippy/60’s Boomers whose outward lives expressed conservatism, but whose decisions in child-rearing, whose philosophy and whose approval (indeed – steering) of the activist public school agenda formed their kids into the new guard who now occupy lobbying firms, policy think tanks, academia, hospitals, law offices, etc.

One of my former friends is now a “Facebook friend.” Our paths diverged sharply towards the end of high school and into college and have shaped us into very different thinkers in adulthood. There was a time, however, when we played together, shared a Halloween costume together, traipsed about each other’s homes as if they were our own. Remembering where she comes from, remembering the tabula rasa of the normal young girl that she once was, I am sad to imagine how lost she is despite a doctoral degree, a marriage (no kids), and a prestigious career.

Here’s a gem she recently shared on Facebook. Rory E. Kraft, a York College professor, writes that pregnancy should be viewed as a form of harm. I quote:

“We all need to be aware of the special vulnerabilities of the pregnant — not only in the physical sense of encouraging pregnant women from refraining from sky diving or riding roller coasters, or recognizing a woman’s need by giving up of a seat on public transportation, but also in the emotional and intellectual sense of recognizing the othering that is occurring. As we focus more on the various aspects of life that are changed by pregnancy, we should come to an understanding of the vulnerabilities of the woman and act on a social responsibility to address these vulnerabilities exposed by the harm of pregnancy.” [emphasis added]

(I am a daily TH reader – nourishment for the mind and soul. Thank you, as always, for your good work for the common good!)

Laura writes:

Thank you.

There is a rare situation in which pregnancy may be legitimately viewed as a form of harm. And that’s when a moronic, amoral, child-hating college professor is in utero and then it is not so much a case of harm to the mother, though certainly I would extend my sympathies to the poor woman, but to society at large. The thought of this man shaping the minds of the young and impressionable is truly chilling.

— Comments—-

Clark Coleman writes:

I have a news flash for the college professor: “othering” is not a word in the English language. Use of nonsense words makes him appear stupid and uneducated.

Laura writes:

That’s the least of his language problems. Can you decipher this sentence?

The ongoing shift in upcoming social role for mothers who will raise their children from being in one social role (architect, chef, professor) to another (mom, mummy, mother) that can feel constrictive, limited and alienating.

I think what Prof. Kraft means to say is: Mothers are raising their children while balancing the thrill and excitement of being, say, hack college professors with the “constrictive, limited and alienating” role of mothering (as opposed to othering) their constrictive, limited and alienating children.

Mr. Coleman writes:

Here is an example of our next generation of loving mothers. This old story from 2008 in Lake Worth, Florida, was resurrected recently when a raw TV news interview was released. The remorselessness of the girls is chilling. Here’s a follow-up a few weeks after the original incident, when the blonde was arrested yet again.